


Puppet Master Christopher

by popayamorphaya



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Domestic Fluff, I'm Bad At Tagging, M/M, eventually
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-08
Updated: 2019-11-06
Packaged: 2020-11-27 16:18:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20951321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/popayamorphaya/pseuds/popayamorphaya
Summary: Buck deals with his emotions in the aftermath of the tsunami with a little help from Eddie and then learns about Lena where he’s hit with bitterness and jealousy, behind the scenes Christopher is trying to push Buck and Eddie to happen.





	1. Chapter 1

Buck lay in his bed staring up at the ceiling, he hadn’t been able to get the tsunami out his mind, how he failed Christopher, he he’d failed Eddie. He saves lives for a living and yet, he’d never been able to save the ones he loved most. He failed Maddie when she was being abused, when she was kidnapped and now he’d failed to keep Christopher safe and failed his best friend.

Buck hadn’t eaten in days, he had whisky for breakfast, even lunch, plus dinner, it had basically been the only thing making it’s way into his mouth. He’d only eaten a few scraps here and there but never a proper meal, he couldn’t even make it out of bed, he’d showered once to wash the dirt and debris and blood off his body. 

He’d also locked his doors and ignored every text and call, even from Athena who he loved, but was scared senseless of, he knew there could be dire consequences to ignoring her but he didn’t have the energy to care. How could he face everyone he’d loved and at the same time, failed? 

But then he’d made the mistake of actually eating when he ordered takeaway, the door knocked, it was late and Buck could’ve only assumed it’d be the food but it was Eddie. When he saw Eddies face all he wanted to do was fall into his arms and cry but he could never do that again, he’d ruined their relationship. 

Buck tried to close the door but Eddie had jammed his foot in the doorway and pushed his way in, Buck contemplated running away there and then, he didn’t want to look at Eddie, not after everything that happened, but there Eddie was, pouring himself some whisky in his kitchen.

”Sit down Buck. You’re gonna talk to me whether or not you like it.” Eddie sat on the sofa tapping his glass with impatience as he gave Buck a death glare. Buck swallowed the lump in his throat and approached Eddie, he didn’t even bother pouring himself any whisky, he just took the whole bottle and took a swig before he finally looked Eddie in the eyes.

”Why’re you here? Have I not disappointed you enough?” Tears threatened to spill over Bucks eyes and a sob caught itself in his throat before he composed himself a little.

”I’m pissed. You haven’t answered any of my hundred calls, I’ve been worried about you, Christopher’s been asking about you, he wants to see you, he wanted to go to build-a-bear with you, said he had to replace the one you’d won together.” There was a bitter edge to Eddies words and Buck just wanted to hide in a corner.

”I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to lose Christopher, I-I tried my best—” 

“I’m not pissed about that, you saved Christopher’s life, maybe you got separated but that’s not your fault. I’m pissed because you’ve been ignoring everyone, including my son who just so desperately wants to see Buck, or as he’s been calling you since the tsunami ‘Superman’. So stop being sorry for yourself and talk to me.” 

“How can I talk to you, I failed you! My job is to save lives but I can never save the ones I love most! I failed Maddie when she was abused and then when she was kidnapped and now I failed Christopher and I..” Buck stops before choking up as he says “I failed you..” He looks up to meet Eddies sympathetic eyes, Eddie wraps him in a hug and tells Buck to let it all out and at that moment, Buck falls apart in Eddies arms.

Eddie spends the night at Bucks house while Christopher has a sleepover at his bisabuela’s house. Together they tidy up the mess created over the past week and then Eddie runs Buck a nice hot bath, he leaves the door open a crack and waits there until he hears Buck get in the bath. Then he makes his way downstairs to make him a proper- and very large- homemade meal. 

The next morning Buck wakes up to the smell of bacon and eggs and he finds Eddie in the kitchen cooking in his natural habitat, then he notices that Christopher is sitting on the sofa watching cartoons and immediately a wave of guilt crashes over him but before he can retreat back to his bed Christopher notices him and calls him over to watch cartoons together. 

“H-Hey bud, what’re you doing here? Shouldn’t you be getting ready for school?” Buck says as he nervously makes his way over to the seat next to Christopher.

”It’s Saturday silly!” He says laughing, never taking his eyes of the scooby doo episode currently playing. Buck mentally slaps himself for being such a mess he didn’t even know what day it was, then he looks over at the distracted and giggling Christopher and for the first time in a week he smiles.

”Hey, so your dad tells me you wanna go to build-a-bear to get a new teddy, since it’s the weekend maybe we could all make a day of it at the mall? If that’s cool with you?” He asks Eddie who just puts on an awkward smile and right away Buck understands Eddie doesn’t want to leave him alone with Christopher in case he messes up again.

”Actually.. I had plans with Lena and I was hoping you’d look after Christopher?” Bucks brows furrowed right away, he wasn’t sure what to ask first ‘You trust me with Christopher’ or ‘Who the hell is Lena?’, he decided he’s pushed his luck already so asks the first, when Eddie reassures Buck that he’s failed Christopher and that he does his best and loves the kid more than anything, that’s all that’s needed, Buck feels a little better and a lot less guilty, a huge weight taken off his shoulders.

Of course he can’t ignore the other question on his mind so he casually tries to ask “So... Who’s this ‘Lena’?” Buck swears he almost hears a scowl from Christopher before he says

“Lena’s a new firefighter that daddy’s been spending a lot of time with.” And then he notices Christopher looking up at his dad with a mean glare, he also catches the guilty look on Eddies face before he plasters on a fake smile. Buck wonders what’s going on but decides that he should just be grateful Eddie trusts him again so he drops it.

And so Buck and Christopher make their way out to the mall together and Buck thanks god when Christopher, unprovoked, brings up Lena and explains her relationship with his dad, along with his thoughts own thoughts on her, it’s evident to Buck that Christopher doesn’t like her but he doesn’t understand why. Buck already hates her but that’s out of jealousy, other than that she sounds like an amazing woman. 

The rest of the day goes without any Lena talk, very little tsunami talk and lots of ice cream, Buck finally lets himself feel something other than pure guilt and misery. He feels better knowing Christopher still loves Buck and wonders how he managed to ignore the pure ray of sunshine for a week.


	2. Chapter 2

Buck stops and takes a deep breath to try and calm himself a little, he then walks out the door and puts on a fake smile that is clearly tense. When he sees Eddie sitting in the car waiting for him he feels even more tense, he knew Eddie was picking him up, just like every week, yet his anxiety only gets worse.

He’s just out of a therapy session, he started going two weeks after the tsunami and has gone every week ever since, every single time Eddies free, he’ll take him and he’ll pick him up, then they go get food and eat with Christopher. Buck loves their little routine, it makes him feel wanted in a time where he has nothing else going for him and his main reason for going to therapy is to get better for Christopher, he may not be Bucks child but he’s basically become a second father.

He walks over to the car, going a little slower than usual hoping something might stop him from reaching his destination, alas, it doesn’t come. When he finally makes it to the car he takes a quick, deep breath and without meaning to, slams the car door. Immediately Eddie looks at him with concern and it makes him smile just a little inside as he sees how much Eddie cares for him.

”So, how was therapy?” Buck knows he has to give Eddie an answer, or half an answer because he’s always so insistent on getting an answer out of Buck, Eddie knows Buck too well. Buck pretends he doesn’t want to talk because he wants to make sure the other person wants to listen, if they insist then he knows they really care, Eddie knows this and he really cares for Buck so he always has to insist.

”I wanna tell you and I trust you but... it’s just too personal. You understand, right?” Of course Eddie understands and he nods, when Buck wants to tell him he’ll do it in his own time when he’s comfortable, whatever Bucks dealing with he needs to figure it out and Eddie knows all he can do is be there for Buck.

After the emotional stuff Buck asks Eddie about his favourite topic, firefighting. Eddie talks about his past week at work and once again goes on to talk about Lena, that’s the downside to talking about work, Lena always manages to make it into every conversation, Buck just looks out the window and rolls his eyes. Eddie however, sees that in the reflection of the window.

”Why are you rolling your eyes?” He asks and Buck let’s out an annoyed sigh at the question, he’s even more annoyed now because Eddies pulling over the car so they can talk seriously about it, Buck both loved and hated Eddies insistence, it was nice to know he cared but then at times like this it was just a huge pain in the ass and finally Buck snapped.

”Lena did this, Lena’s so amazing! I’m a kiss-ass for Lena! Just stop talking about her!” Buck snapped at Eddie and he was both pissed and confused, he couldn’t understand why Buck would be so upset over a woman he hasn’t even met and why he’d care if Eddie spoke about her a lot.

”How can you have a problem with a woman you’ve never met? You’re acting petty and jealous.” Buck just huffs and looks away from Eddie and then it hits him “Are you worried she’s gonna take your place? Because you know Bobby sees you like a son and will always be saving your spot on the team, right?” 

“No, you idiot! Can you not see you’re replacing me with her? _I’m _supposed to be your best friend, not her!” Eddies eyes widened and he felt like an ass, every time he hung out with Buck he spoke about Lena and how great they were getting along and he didn’t realise how left out Buck must feel being unable to work and now not spending so much time with his friends. Eddie sat a comforting hand on Bucks arm and Bucks heart skipped a beat at the interaction, Eddie assured Buck he could never be replaced, not at work and _definitely _not as his best friend.

And so they continued their journey to the takeout restaurant and made their way to Eddies house where Christopher was waiting with Carla. Buck and Eddie sat on the sofa with a warm blanket over them while Christopher sat and drew with his crayons. At the end of the day when Buck was going home, Christopher gave him a picture to hang up on his refrigerator, a picture of Buck, Eddie and Christopher, written at the top was “My family!” with a star at the beginning and the end, Buck gave Christopher a hug and smiled brightly, feeling a little awkward not knowing how Eddie would react.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> really didn’t expect this chapter to turn out this way but I think it’s cute and I don’t wanna ruin it with more angst after it got do fluffy. It’s also short but I’ll write another chapter soon though :)


	3. Chapter 3

Buck was sat on the sofa with a glass of wine in hand next to his sister and Chimney who also had glasses of wine in their hands. Buck had maybe sorta tuned Maddie out which she would definitely scold him for but he didn’t really care, he was thinking about the fact that the entire station, Maddie, Athena and Buck included, would all be going to dinner to celebrate Bobbys birthday.

In other words, Bucks first meeting with Lena. Although she may not know or understand the situation, she was his biggest competition, Buck wasn’t sure of what but he had this inexplicable need to one-up her. Maybe for his spot on the station? The spot of Eddies best friend? Eddies love? Buck, for a split second, went lightheaded as that last thought popped up, he didn’t even know why it crossed his mind.

He came out of his thoughts when he noticed Maddie snapping her fingers in front of his face to try get him to refocus his attention.

”What’s got you so deep in thought that you had the guts to ignore me? Must be super important, is it who you’re bringing as a date to Bobbys birthday?” Maddie smirked a little and looked at Chimney who just shook his head solemnly and instantly Maddies face fell as she composed herself, realising Eddie was not going to be going with Buck.

”I’m supposed to bring a date to this thing? It’s only dinner...” His eyes went wide at what Maddie had just said, nobody told him this was a date thing!

”Well.. Athena did say so but I guess since everyone’s plus one was already invited I guess it just became obsolete? But you could still bring someone, the tables for eight and we’ve only got seven.”

”Nah it’s fine!” Buck said waving it off in an attempt to hide his disappointment, the only person he wanted to ask was going with someone, but he obviously only wanted to go with Eddie as friends, his brain quickly reminded him.

* * *

  
Maddie and Chim walked into the restaurant hand in hand with Buck lingering behind, he had to catch a ride with them seen as he wasn’t yet clear to drive with his leg. He felt embarrassed having walked in with his sister and friend while everybody else walked in with a date.

He was sat at the table with his chin resting on his fist as his other hand fiddled around with the cutlery that was already sat out when he noticed Eddie walking in arm in arm with an unknown blonde woman. He quickly gathered his composure before either of them noticed and then looked over at them with a plastered on welcoming smile.

Eddie and Lena made their way to the table and Buck stood up to greet Lena, he might hate her guts but he still had manners. They shook hands and introduced themselves and then Lena made her way over to her seat next to Eddie who was across the table from Buck. Buck wished a hole would just swallow him up, now he was sat across from Eddie he’d have to hold back on the snarky faces.

Athena and Bobby were the last to arrive as they all wished him a happy birthday and enjoyed the happy shock on his face, as far as he knew it was just a small dinner with his wife but he was happy to have his family with him. Everyone sat and ordered their appetisers and some wine but Eddie didn’t feel particularly hungry so he had a few bites, most of the time just poking it around with his fork while listening to conversation.

Eddie noticed this and of course being the only one who knew Buck didn’t like to eat when he was feeling down he began to worry. He looked over to Buck before standing and announcing he wanted some fresh air, asking Buck if he’d join him outside and Buck, being bored at the table, joined him.

“What’s up Buck, you seem a little down.” Buck looked at his feet before letting out a long sigh, right now he just wanted to punch something, anything, Eddie looked good to him right now, a little payback for him picking Lena.

”I’m fine, let’s talk about you and Lena! You guys seem really cute together y’know!” Buck said a little too enthusiastically and Eddie just felt a tang of sadness at Bucks comment, he was unable to realise Buck wasn’t happy for him because he felt it was too unrealistic. 

Eddie had known he was bisexual for a while but before he even got the chance to explore it he fell in love with Shannon and after she left he focused on Christopher, then, for the first time ever, he fell for a guy. Everyone knew Buck was bisexual, he talked about guys and girls the same amount but he also could tell Buck was new to his bisexuality and had yet to explore it too. He was too busy recovering and taking a break from Abby, and then there was his accident and his breakup and he had to focus on recovery again, then the tsunami and yet again, recovery.

But now, now it’d been a few months, he knew Buck was doing better and was ready to get back to his normal life, he’d picked up Buck from therapy practically every time and he watched him revert back to his happy and goofy self and even though he knew Buck was finally ready he also had to accept Buck was never, and will never, be into him.

”I- sorry, I got lost in thought. Anyway yeah, Lena’s great but it’s still early stages. She’s still seeing other people and I—” Eddie catches himself before he can finish the sentence but of course Buck insists and Eddie lets out a long and seemingly exhausted sigh, he goes to head inside before Buck grabs his wrist.

”Eddie! Stop. Don’t- don’t pick her, don’t choose _her!_”

”What? Why not?” 

“Because- because you have to choose me!” Buck finally lets out, he feels dizzy. Months and months of wanting, no - _needing-_ Eddie have finally been aired out in the open. He feels a knot in his stomach, especially as he tentatively reaches out a hand to put on Eddies head before closing his eyes and leaning in to kiss him.

Except it never happens. Eddies hand is wrapped around Bucks wrist, then they’re on his chest pushing him away while he repeatedly says ‘I can’t.’ 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 😀👍


	4. Chapter 4

Eddie couldn’t stand the look of rejection and heartbreak on Bucks face and it hurt even more that he was the one to put it there but what kind of a man would he be if he were to kiss Buck when he brought someone else on a date, that’d make him even worse.

He could see the tears threatening to spill over in Bucks eyes even as he was backing away from Eddie and all he wanted to do was pull Buck into his arms and comfort him, but he had to explain why he did what he did, make Buck understand how much he wants to kiss him but that he can’t, not until he’s spoken to Lena.

”Buck, before you run away please hear me out!” But Buck was still backing away and as he turned to run off Eddie said something that stopped him in his tracks “I- I love you!” Eddie hoped to god that nobody heard him, he didn’t regret his words but he regretted the situation, that he couldn’t have just admitted this to Buck before he started this complicated mess with Lena.

”You- You love me?” And then Buck turned around, he could see both hope and anger in Bucks face, Bucks heart said “I love you too!” But his brain said “Then why are you with her, why didn’t you kiss me? How could you break my heart like this?” 

Suddenly Eddie hesitated, he was at a crossroads; kiss Buck and hurt Lena or don’t kiss Buck and break his heart just as a glimmer of hope began to spark back within Buck, and then he decided _Screw the consequences._

He walked over to Buck without breaking eye contact, without so much as a blink from either of them, it had taken months to get to this point, and now it was only seven steps away, and then he took another, _six. _And another, _five. Four, three, two, _just one more step but before he could take that step Buck had beaten him to it.

Eddie placed his hands on Bucks cheeks and he looked into Bucks eyes, filled with fear and vulnerability as a stray tear finally broke free, Eddie swiped the tear away and finally, _finally,_ pressed his lips to Bucks. 

All either man wanted to do was break into tears of relief, it was months of wanting, wanting, wanting and finally, in that moment it became having, having, having. Buck felt overwhelmed as Eddie pulled away, he had just kissed Eddie, Eddie who he’s been pining over for months.

Then it hit like a tonne of bricks, this is it for him, the beginning of the rest of his life, that is. He can feel it deep in his bones that Eddie is it for him, Eddie is the love of his life, there’s no doubt anymore, no what ifs. He knows that they’re both destined to be together for the rest of their lives and so does Eddie. He’d felt love before but never love like this, with Shannon he had considered the worst outcomes but with Buck those worst outcomes are stupid and unrealistic. They’d both stuck together through thick and thin, Eddie was there at Bucks worst and vice versa. 

These are the words Eddie says as he’s standing in front of his friends and family looking at Buck, all dressed up in a black tux nervously chewing his lip as he waits to be officially pronounced Eddies husband.

Lena wasn’t really given the chance to get over what happened between Eddie and Buck as she threw down her badge on Bobbys desk and walked angrily out of the station she’d just found out she was no longer welcome in after Bobby found out she was not only involved in a fight club, but also involving other people, most specifically a single father. Buck stood at the back of the crowd that watched Lena leaving, he knows he should’ve been there by Eddies side at the front of the crowd but he knew the smug smile on his lips was not what Eddie needed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for leaving that chapter 3 ending for 3 weeks and sorry for this really sloppy and potentially unfulfilling ending, I kind of just wanted to conclude really quickly and I had no idea where to put the last paragraph which by the way, was set only like a week or two after Buck and Eddie kissed, NOT after their wedding. 
> 
> Sorry again though 😀❤️

**Author's Note:**

> I’d really love Lena, if she weren’t here to steal Eddie from Buck but my guess is she’s only here for a season, hopefully when her stations up and running again she’ll go back, for loyalty and all. Other than that, I hope you enjoyed :)


End file.
